Saturday, January 30, 2010

“What really knocks me out is a book, when you're all done reading it, you wished the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it.”Holden Caulfield, The Catcher in the Rye

This week the world lost an author many readers would like to have known as a friend: J.D. Salinger. Salinger was the author of the classic coming of age novel, Catcher in the Rye. Although the reclusive Salinger has not been seen in the public eye or published in decades, his literary presence was always with us thanks to his masterpiece, Catcher in the Rye. And so long as there are teenagers and adults who remember their teens, his literary influence will continue.

Friday, January 29, 2010

Publisher's Summary. In My Paper Chase, Harold Evans recounts the wild and wonderful tale of newspapering life. His story stretches from the 1930s to his service in WWII, through towns big and off the map. He discusses his passion for the crusading style of reportage he championed, his clashes with Rupert Murdoch, and his struggle to use journalism to better the lives of those less fortunate. There's a star-studded cast and a tremendously vivid sense of what once was: the lead type, the smell of the presses, eccentrics throughout, and angry editors screaming over the intercoms. My Paper Chase tells the story of Evans's great loves: newspapers and Tina Brown, the bright, young journalist who became his wife.

In an age when newspapers everywhere are under threat, My Paper Chase is not just a glorious recounting of an amazing life, but a nostalgic journey in black and white.

Giveaway Rules. Today I am giving away FIVE copies of this fabulous book.

First Entry: Comment with your email address in the body of the comment (you can list it as mary123 (at) yahoo(dot)com). If you do not list your email address your entry will not count.

Extra Entry: Sign up to follow my blog (or let me know that you are a current follower). NOTE: This extra entry MUST be left in a separate comment or it will not count.

The giveaway is open to Canadian and US residents only.You must be 18 years of age or older.NO P.O. Boxes for the winner’s mailing address.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Publisher's Summary. Julie Powell thought cooking her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking was the craziest thing she'd ever do--until she embarked on the voyage recounted in her new memoir, CLEAVING.

Her marriage challenged by an insane, irresistible love affair, Julie decides to leave town and immerse herself in a new obsession: butchery. She finds her way to Fleischer's, a butcher shop where she buries herself in the details of food. She learns how to break down a side of beef and French a rack of ribs--tough, physical work that only sometimes distracts her from thoughts of afternoon trysts.

The camaraderie at Fleischer's leads Julie to search out fellow butchers around the world--from South America to Europe to Africa. At the end of her odyssey, she has learned a new art and perhaps even mastered her unruly heart.

Review. “Be careful what you wish for” is the saying that reverberated through my head while reading Julie Powell’s new memoir Cleaving. After the huge success of her break through memoir Julie and Julia, author Powell is contacted by an old flame. This leads to an affair that nearly destroys Powell’s marriage as well as her self worth. At the same time as her personal soap opera, Powell embarks on an apprenticeship, as background for Cleaving, at Fleisher’s butcher shop.

The memoir switches between detailed depictions of butchery along Powell’s romantic travails. Periodically recipes are included. While this seems disjointed it actually works fairly well. Witness, this passage:

A liver is unlike any other organ . . . . A liver is a mystery. It’s a filter. The liver records experience, the indulgences and wrong turns; it contains within it a constantly updated state-of-the union address. But it keeps what it knows a secret. Encoded. It cleans up after itself, too, will after a time purge files, dispensing unnecessary information, what’s been relegated to the past, keeping what’s needed. There are even some hopeful, possibly deluded souls who believe a cirrhotic liver can heal itself, with time, and with gentleness.

Cleaving was a difficult read for me. One the one hand, I admired Powell’s candor about her obsession with her ex lover. Anyone who has ever been on the wrong side of a love turned sour can probably relate to some of the feelings and/or actions that Powell confesses to. On the other hand, I sometimes felt that reading it was the literary equivalent of pawing through Powell’s lingerie drawer (even with the author’s invitation and the written consents of her husband Eric and her ex D). In addition, while Powell is a gifted writer, I generally skimmed over many of the detailed butchery passages. In sum, this memoir was a mixed bag for me.

Publisher's Summary. Meet Kathryn Borel, bon vivant and undutiful daughter. Now meet her father, Philippe, former chef, eccentric genius, and wine aficionado extraordinaire. Kathryn is like her father in every way but one: she's totally ignorant when it comes to wine. And although Philippe has devoted untold parenting hours to delivering impassioned oenological orations, she has managed to remain unenlightened. But after an accident and a death, Kathryn realizes that by shutting herself off to her father's greatest passion, she will never really know him.

Giveaway Rules: Today I am giving away FIVE copies of this fabulous book.

First Entry: Comment with your email address in the body of the comment (you can list it as mary123 (at) yahoo(dot)com). If you do not list your email address your entry will not count.

Extra Entry: Sign up to follow my blog (or let me know that you are a current follower). NOTE: This extra entry MUST be left in a separate comment or it will not count.

The giveaway is open to US residents only.You must be 18 years of age or older.NO P.O. Boxes for the winner’s mailing address.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Publisher's Summary. When Sandy Saavedra lands her dream job with the popular website ¡Latino Now!, she can't wait to write hard-hitting pieces to combat all those stupid Latino stereotypes. While visions of Pulitzers dance in her head, her editor in chief is suddenly laid off, replaced by the infamous Dolores Villanueva O'Sullivan. Dolores has one mission: make ¡Latino Now! an internet phenomenon, no matter how many pandering puff pieces she has to pack onto its pages. Sandy doesn't see how she can keep this job without losing her soul, especially when she's sent to Middle-of-Nowhere Texas to investigate the dumbest legend her people ever created, the Chupacabra.

Review. In Lone Star Legend by Gwendolyn Zepeda the Latina heroine Dominga Saavedra a.k.a. Sandy S. is a serious young writer for a respected web site LatinoNow as well as the keeper of an anonymous personal blog My Modern TragiComedy. All of this changes when LatinoNow is transformed into Nacho Papi, a gossipy Latino web site.

The novel follows Sandy S.’s dance with the devils at Nacho Papi who offer nuggets of fame and fortune in exchange for journalistic integrity. To stay gainfully employed Sandy undergoes a personal makeover and learns to write snarky celebrity copy. Soon Sandy S. becomes a minor celebrity with all of the corresponding benefits and detriments that go with living in the public eye. She also befriends an elderly goat farmer, “the Chupacabra” (literally translated as the goat sucker) who offers Sandy S. and her readers common sense advice.

Although Lone Star Legend follows a fairly predictable plotline trajectory, the characters and blog entries are unique and refreshing! Zepeda knows how to craft witty passages and interesting characters. In addition, the book also features a bilingual reading guide with great discussion questions.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Thanks to host Marcia at The Printed Page I'm participating in the Mailbox Monday round up. This week I received the following advance review copies:

1) A Black Tie Affair by Sherrill Bodine. Amazon Product Description. Fashion curator Athena Smith will do anything to get her perfectly manicured hands on the Clayworth family's celebrated couture collection for her exhibit. So when she's called in to make sure the gowns are the real deal, she's ecstatic...until a dress she's examining turns out to be loaded with toxins (talk about killer threads!) and Athena faints, only to wake up face-to-face with the One That Got Away, notorious Chicago bachelor Drew Clayworth.

Drew still believes Athena betrayed him all those years ago, and he's sure he can't trust her. But when the priceless gowns go missing, she offers to help track them down. Reluctantly allied in the quest, Drew and Athena are soon stunned by the barely restrained passion still sizzling between them...and memories both bitter and sweet. Is their new partnership just a business arrangement? Or is this something more than ....

2) Sleep No More by Susan Crandall. Puclisher's Summary. The night was always Abby Whitman's enemy. As a young girl she walked in her sleep, and one night, she started a fire that scarred her sister for life and left Abby with unbearable guilt . . . and a loneliness that echoes within her. Now Abby has begun blacking out again-with apparently fatal results. A car accident has killed the son of a prominent family. Even though the evidence seems to exonerate her, Abby is plagued by doubts-and soon by mysterious threats. Psychiatrist Dr. Jason Coble is intrigued by Abby and offers to help her explore the dark recesses of her mind.

Thanks to Hachette Book Group!

3) Vienna Secrets: A Max Liebermann Mystery by Frank Tallis. Publisher's Summary. In Freud’s dangerous, dazzling Vienna of 1903, an ingenious doctor and an intrepid detective again challenge psychotic criminals across a landscape teetering between the sophisticated and the savage, the thrilling future and the primitive past.

On opposite sides of the city, two men are found beheaded on church grounds. Detective Inspector Oskar Reinhardt is baffled. Could the killer be mentally ill, someone the victims came into contact with? Some are even blaming the murders on the devil. But when psychoanalyst Dr. Max Liebermann learns that both victims were vocal members of a shadowy anti-Semitic group, he turns his gaze to the city’s close-knit Hasidic community. The doctor is drawn into an urban underworld that hosts and hides virulent racists on one side and followers of kabbalah on the other. And as the evidence—and bodies—pile up, Liebermann must reconsider his own path, the one that led him away from the miraculous and toward a life of the mind.

Thanks to Random House!

4) Comfort Living by Christine Eisner. Amazon Product Description. With simple tools and do-able steps, Comfort Living will guide you in creating a home that transforms the way you experience each day. No big investment of time or money is required. Filled with exercises, ToolBoxes, photographs and planning pages, this book becomes a personalized experience for each reader, customized to individual needs and wants, much like a wedding planner or baby book. Just as comfort food does more than satisfy hunger, Comfort Living realigns your surroundings so that they support your priorities and feed your soul.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Publisher's Summary. From Denise Austin comes the perfect health book for anyone who wants to live better but just can't seem to find the time. Much more than just another excercise book, Denise's Daily Dozen covers a whole range of health and diet related concepts yet manages it all in a no-stress, time-conscious program of 12's. At it's core, this book contains the minimum daily requirements to keep the reader flexible, strong and trim. Organized simply into seven chapters, which equal the seven days of the week, it covers a full week in daily allotments. Each day will have it's own focus from Monday being "fat burning day" to Sunday's "recharge and rejuvenate."

Denise has created a total body program, including a 7-day balanced meal plan that includes healthy recipes, and a workout that encompasses 12 exercises done in 12 minutes each day. Everyone can take just 12 minutes, at whatever time of the day works for them, and turn it over to these simple and fun exercises. Cardio, toning, yoga and breathing exercises...they're all here but in a way the maximizes effect while minimizing time.

Beyond a dozen exercises for each day of the week this book will include many other of Denises dozens for each day. Review. Losing weight, getting in shape, and being healthier overall, are common New Year’s resolutions. Helping you to keep those resolutions is Denise Austin in her new book Denise’s Daily Dozen. Denise Austin, a 52 year old (can you believe it!) fitness trainer with nearly thirty years experience, is a personal inspiration of what a healthy diet and regular exercise can do for you.

Denise’s Daily Dozen is comprised of a Fitness Plan and an Eating Plan. The Fitness Plan includes a workout with three essential elements: “cardiovascular, toning, and flexibility in twelve easy moves you do for twelve minutes a day.” Like most fitness trainers, however, Denise acknowledges that you should ultimately work up to thirty minutes a day. Still, according to Denise, on your busiest days the twelve minutes are enough. In addition to the Daily Dozen workouts, Denise prescribes twelve miles of cardio exercise weekly. Walking counts as fulfilling this requirement. The Eating Plan is basically a 1200 calorie a day meal plan that includes three servings each of veggies, fruits, and proteins with two of healthy grains and one of a healthy fat.

While much of the information, limit calories to around 1200 a day and perform 30 minutes of cardio day, is not new, it is put together in a user friendly format. With lots of pictures of the exercises and specific instructions (exercises and meal plans) for each day of the week, it is easy to follow. I also enjoyed the real life stories from women who lost weight following Denise’s plan. Also helpful is the chapter “Twelve Meals You Can Make in About Twelve Minutes” because who isn’t pressed for time? And lastly the weekly shopping lists promote quick and efficient shopping in that dieter’s temptation den known as the grocery store.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Many workplace moms desire to be at home, experiencing the most important moments of their children’s lives, and creating a warm and loving family atmosphere. Instead, they find themselves caught in a balancing act between work and home.

This easy-to-read guide gives practical steps, creative suggestions, and valuable resources to help you and your family

If you’re one of the 89%* who would stay at home if you could make it work financially, Ellie Kay has the tips you need to succeed.

Review. As part of my month long focus on “Money, Weight and Trash” today I am reviewing ½ Price Living by Ellie Kay. This book is primarily written to help women who want to stay home with their children. That is, it is for those families who want to go from two incomes to one income for child rearing and quality of life purposes.

As Kay explains, “Half-price living means you can have half the stress because you’re not balancing work and home. Living on one income means you can have half the clutter in your home, because you can take time to simplify your life. Living on one income means you have the time to cook instead of grabbing fast food, and thereby have half the health risks in your life. It can also mean you have time to comparison shop, learn the fine art of saving money, and cut some bills in half.”

The first half of the book is devoted to “affording to stay home” while the latter half details specific cost saving strategies. Although I personally did not find much relevant or new information I am not a stay at home mom, in addition, I have been clipping coupons and shopping sales for years. I did find the “How to Own a Home Business that Doesn’t Own You” chapter interesting and it appeared helpful for would be entrepreneurs.

In sum, ½ Price Living is a very good how-to-guide for its target audience, but not so relevant for others.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Publisher's Summary. Nubs, an Iraqi dog of war, never had a home or a person of his own. But Nubs's life changed when he met Marine Major Brian Dennis. The two formed a fast friendship that led Nubs on an incredible journey that crossed deserts, oceans, and even continents, and touched the hearts of people around the world.

Review. Every so often a true story comes along that stops you in your tracks because it is that incredible! Nubs The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine & a Miracle by Major Brian Dennis, Kirby Larson and Mary Nethery is one of these stories. When Nubs, a painfully thin stray and abused Iraqi dog whose ears had been severed, befriended Major Brian Dennis in an Iraqi dessert outpost both lives (dog and human) changed.

Nubs earned his name because Major Dennis noted, “his ears look like little ‘nubs.’” Nubs and Major Dennis formed an instant bond with shared MRE’s (Meals-Ready- to-Eat); and belly rubs. However, the pair had to separate frequently as Major Dennis was assigned to other forts and Marines were not allowed have pets. Each time Major Dennis left the Iraqi outpost Nubs tried to follow the Marine convey, but couldn’t keep up. And each time Major Dennis returned to the outpost he looked for Nubs. Unfortunately, the conditions were quite harsh and Nubs suffered injuries and lost weight, but he always perked up when Major Dennis returned.

After the final time Major Dennis left the outpost, Nubs was determined to follow him. And follow him he did – over seventy miles of adverse conditions, until two days later he found Major Dennis. It was both a miracle that he survived the journey and a miracle that he found Major Dennis. But the biggest miracle of all was that the “dog of war chose to become a dog of peace.” Deeply moved by Nubs’ devotion Major Dennis decided to ship Nubs to San Diego and keep him. This is where Major Dennis’s devotion to Nubs came through as he overcame financial and logistical obstacles to ship him to the United States. Today Nubs and Major Dennis live a busy life filled with walks, hikes and swimming at the dog beach.

The story of Nubs is a heartwarming and beautifully photographed children’s book that both young and old will love! I know I did!

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Publisher's Summary. Unfortunately, getting older can be a career killer. That's what entertainment journalist Lisa Johnson Mandell discovered when she sent out a resume that made her sound like an aged veteran. Her new career makeover guide-expanded from the Wall Street Journal article about revamping her "older" image to land her dream job-acknowledges that experience matters, but looking and acting up-to-date matter just as much. Mandell provides ten strategies for putting a youthful spin on resumes, Web pages, and personal presentation.

Giveaway Rules: Today I am giving away FIVE copies of this enlightening book.

First Entry: Comment with your email address in the body of the comment (you can list it as mary123 (at) yahoo(dot)com). If you do not list your email address your entry will not count.

Extra Entry: Sign up to follow my blog (or let me know that you are a current follower). NOTE: This extra entry MUST be left in a separate comment or it will not count.

The giveaway is open to Canadian and US residents only.You must be 18 years of age or older.NO P.O. Boxes for the winner’s mailing address.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Thanks to host Marcia at The Printed Page I'm participating in the Mailbox Monday round up. This week I received the following advance review copies:

1) Fireworks Over Toccoa by Jeffrey Stepakoff. Amazon Product Description. Every so often that story comes along that reminds us of what it’s like to experience love for the first time—against the odds, when you least expect it, and with such passion that it completely changes you forever.

An unexpected discovery takes eighty-four-year-old Lily Davis Woodward to 1945, and the five days that forever changed her life. Married for only a week before her husband was sent to fight in WWII, Lily is anxious for his return, and the chance to begin their life together. In honor of the soldiers' homecoming, the small Georgia town of Toccoa plans a big celebration. And Jake Russo, a handsome Italian immigrant, also back from war, is responsible for the elaborate fireworks display the town commissioned. But after a chance encounter in a star-lit field, he steals Lily's heart and soul--and fulfills her in ways her socially-minded, upper-class family cannot. Now, torn by duty to society and her husband--and the poor, passionate man who might be her only true love--Lily must choose between a commitment she's already made and a love she’s never known before.

Fireworks Over Toccoa takes us to a moment in time that will resonate with readers long after the book’s unforgettable conclusion. A devastating and poignant story, this debut novel will resonate with anyone who believes in love.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Author's Summary. Where in the world did Common Courtesy go?! I don’t want to ruin this story for you, but I found out Common Courtesy is dying a slow and painful death. I want it back, so welcome to my journey. I did find pockets of courtesy here and there that are fairly healthy, but it is definitely no longer ‘common’. Common Courtesy used to describe behaviors that everyone was expected to know and practice, hence the word ‘common’. There was a personal accountability to being courteous. Your manners and etiquette were not just about how you treated others, it was a show of your attitude in general. This book is about finding Common Courtesy and putting it back on the road to good health. Topics include: Communication Courtesy, Public Places, Traveling and Personal Courtesy. I have made this interactive for the reader (e.g. sign the front of the book, adding ideas in certain sections, Pass-it-Along Pages, etc.). Have fun! As Gandhi would and did say, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

Review. Recently, several incidents left me wishing I had my copy of Not So Common Courtesy by Mitzi Taylor or at least the Pass-It-Along Pages handy to pass on to a worthy recipient. To the holiday shippers who packed up their boxes at the postal counter while the rest of the postal customers queued upwards of an hour plus waiting to mail their fully prepared boxes and letters. To the restaurant patron who after hanging his coat on the overloaded coat tree blissfully walked away while it predictably fell. To the folks who stood in their driveways watching, but not assisting the stuck snowplow truck. To all of these deserving recipients: Not So Common Courtesy is for you!

Not So Common Courtesy seeks to bring civility and thoughtfulness back into public interactions and discourse. As Taylor notes, “The whole reason I sat down to write this book is to help our society get back to the place where we are respectful of one another, kind to one another, and we can all just get along!” With a clear mission, a strong dose of humor, and a sprinkling of famous quotes, Taylor addresses the following courtesy hotspots: Drive-Thrus; Communication; Personal Courtesy; Public Places; Traveling; Driving; and Pets. The book concludes with Pass-It-Along Pages that are rip out notes to spread the word, with succinct messages such as: Tip of the Day Read Not So Common Courtesy by Mitzi Taylor See if you can find yourself in there; Hey this book’s for you!; I just thought I would let you know that I appreciate your Courtesy. You are an example and inspiration to the world around you! Thank You!

If everyone read Not So Common Courtesy and took Taylor’s commonsense advice to heart we might all be able to just get along!

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Publisher's Summary. In the post-meltdown world, it is irresponsible, ineffective, and ultimately useless to have a serious economic debate without considering and challenging the role of the Federal Reserve.

Most people think of the Fed as an indispensable institution without which the country's economy could not properly function. But in END THE FED, Ron Paul draws on American history, economics, and fascinating stories from his own long political life to argue that the Fed is both corrupt and unconstitutional. It is inflating currency today at nearly a Weimar or Zimbabwe level, a practice that threatens to put us into an inflationary depression where $100 bills are worthless. What most people don't realize is that the Fed -- created by the Morgans and Rockefellers at a private club off the coast of Georgia -- is actually working against their own personal interests. Congressman Paul's urgent appeal to all citizens and officials tells us where we went wrong and what we need to do fix America's economic policy for future generations.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Publisher's Summary. Edward M. Kennedy is widely regarded as one of the great Senators in the nation's history. He is also the patriarch of America's most heralded family. In this landmark autobiography, five years in the making, Senator Kennedy speaks with unprecedented candor about his extraordinary life.

The youngest of nine children born to Joseph P. Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, he came of age among siblings from whom much was expected. As a young man, he played a key role in the presidential campaign of his brother, John F. Kennedy. In 1962, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he learned how to become an effective legislator.

His life has been marked by tragedy and perseverance, a love for family and an abiding faith. He writes movingly of his brothers and their influence on him; his years of struggle in the wake of their deaths; his marriage to the woman who changed his life, Victoria Reggie Kennedy; his role in the major events of our time (from the civil rights movement to the election of Barack Obama); and how his recent diagnosis of a malignant brain tumor has given even greater urgency to his long crusade for improved health care for all Americans.

Written with warmth, wit, and grace, True Compass is Edward M. Kennedy's inspiring legacy to readers and to history.

Giveaway Rules. Today I am giving away THREE copies of this wonderful audiobook.

Entry: Comment with your email address in the body of the comment (you can list it as mary123 (at) yahoo(dot)com). If you do not list your email address your entry will not count.

The giveaway is open to Canadian and US residents only.You must be 18 years of age or older.NO P.O. Boxes for the winner’s mailing address.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Amazon Product Description. Lucy Valentine is as smart as can be, as single as you can get, and so not qualified to run a matchmaking service. But when her parents temporarily step down from the family business, Valentine, Inc., it’s Lucy’s turn to step up and help out—in the name of love.

Plus, her rent is due.

Here’s the problem: Lucy doesn’t have the knack for matchmaking. According to family legend, every Valentine has been blessed by Cupid with the ability to read “auras” and pair up perfect couples. But not Lucy. Her skills were zapped away years ago in an electrical surge, and now all she can do is find lost objects. What good is that in the matchmaking world? You’d be surprised. In a city like Boston, everyone’s looking for something. So when Lucy locates a missing wedding ring—on a dead body—she asks the sexy private eye who lives upstairs to help her solve the perfect crime. And who knows? Maybe she’ll find the perfect love while she’s at it…

Review.Truly Madly by Heather Webber is the first in a new romantic mystery series. The heroine Lucy Valentine is member of the famous Boston matchmaking Valentine clan. The Valentines’ matchmaking service boasts a success rate of 98% thanks to a secret, special extrasensory gift of reading people’s auras.

Unfortunately, Lucy lost her aura reading ability at fourteen when she was zapped with an electrical surge. Now, Lucy can find lost objects. Her psychic abilities lead her to a missing boy and a dead body. Helping her solve these mysteries is Sean Donahue, a “hottie” private detective.

Truly Madly is a fun romp of a mystery, especially when Lucy and Sean are bantering. For instance, when Sean affirms that “all three pounds” of the tiny Yorkie pup, Thoreau, is his, Lucy taunts, “I wouldn’t have pegged you as a lapdog kind of guy” to which he retorts, “the breed wasn’t my choice, but the name was.” This push-pull dance between Lucy and Sean has the elements of a charismatic series couple.

As an aside the author, Heather Webber, appears to be a pen name as there is no biographical information or author picture provided. I can’t help but wonder if the author was a fan of the soap General Hospital (does anyone else remember the troubled Heather Webber from the series?).

Truly Madly is a great beginning to what promises to be a winning new series!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Publisher's Summary. In The Liar in Your Life, psychology professor Robert Feldman, one of the world's leading authorities on deception, draws on his immense body of knowledge to give fresh insights into how and why we lie, how our culture has become increasingly tolerant of deception, the cost it exacts on us, and what to do about it. His work is at once surprising and sobering, full of corrections for common myths and explanations of pervasive oversimplifications.

Feldman examines marital infidelity, little white lies, career-driven resumé lies, and how we teach children to lie. Along the way, he reveals-despite our beliefs to the contrary- how it is nearly impossible to spot a liar (studies have shown no relationship between nervousness, lack of eye contact, or a trembling voice, and acts of deception). He also provides startling evidence of just how integral lying is to our culture; indeed, his research shows that two people, meeting for the first time, will lie to each other an average of three times in the first ten minutes of a conversation.Feldman uses this discussion of deception to explore ways we can cope with infidelity, betrayal, and mistrust, in our friends and family. He also describes the lies we tell ourselves: Sometimes, the liar in your life is the person you see in the mirror. With incisive clarity and wry wit, Feldman has written a truthful book for anyone who whose life has been touched by deception.

Giveaway Rules. Today I am giving away THREE copies of this fabulous audiobook.

Entry: Comment with your email address in the body of the comment (you can list it as mary123 (at) yahoo(dot)com). If you do not list your email address your entry will not count.

The giveaway is open to Canadian and US residents only.You must be 18 years of age or older.NO P.O. Boxes for the winner’s mailing address.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Publisher's Summary. What is the difference between choking and panicking? Why are there dozens of varieties of mustard-but only one variety of ketchup? What do football players teach us about how to hire teachers? What does hair dye tell us about the history of the 20th century?

In the past decade, Malcolm Gladwell has written three books that have radically changed how we understand our world and ourselves: The Tipping Point; Blink; and Outliers. Now, in What the Dog Saw, he brings together, for the first time, the best of his writing from The New Yorker over the same period.

Here is the bittersweet tale of the inventor of the birth control pill, and the dazzling inventions of the pasta sauce pioneer Howard Moscowitz. Gladwell sits with Ron Popeil, the king of the American kitchen, as he sells rotisserie ovens, and divines the secrets of Cesar Millan, the "dog whisperer" who can calm savage animals with the touch of his hand. He explores intelligence tests and ethnic profiling and "hindsight bias" and why it was that everyone in Silicon Valley once tripped over themselves to hire the same college graduate.

"Good writing," Gladwell says in his preface, "does not succeed or fail on the strength of its ability to persuade. It succeeds or fails on the strength of its ability to engage you, to make you think, to give you a glimpse into someone else's head." What the Dog Saw is yet another example of the buoyant spirit and unflagging curiosity that have made Malcolm Gladwell our most brilliant investigator of the hidden extraordinary.

Review.What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell is a collection of essays first published in The New Yorker. These vignettes are both entertaining and thought-provoking!

What I love most about Gladwell’s writing is his approach to the subject. Gladwell is a gifted writer who is able to turn the ordinary (ketchup) into the extraordinary (an expansive essay as to why there is only one kind of ketchup). He is also able to translate the complex (Wall Street maneuvers) into the comprehensible (so that a layman is able to understand the transactions). In addition, Gladwell convincingly, elevates subjects such as infomercial king Ron Popeil, founder of Ronco and maker of the Showtime Rotisserie, into a “minor genius.”

What the Dog Saw is a fun and fascinating celebration of the ordinary world as you’ve never seen it!

Monday, January 11, 2010

Publisher's Summary. What is it about the number seven that has such a hold on us? Why are there seven deadly sins? Seven days of the week? Seven wonders of the world, seven colors of the spectrum, seven ages of man, and seven sister colleges? Why can we hold seven numbers or words in our working memory--but no more? Author Jackie Leo explores everything about this mystical, magical, useful, and fun number in her new book.

SEVEN REASONS YOU NEED THIS BOOK

1. SEVEN is a tool to improve the quality of your life. It is a way to define time, synthesize ideas, and keep your mind performing at top speed in an era of distractions.

2. SEVEN is culturally significant. It pops up everywhere, structuring our world in ways so fundamental, we notice them only when we pause to look. Across the ages and across cultures, the number has acquired a huge scientific, psychological, and religious significance.

3. SEVEN is intriguing. Why, out of hundreds of recipes in a cookbook, do people return to the same seven, over and over? Why, when asked to choose a number between one and ten, does such a large majority of people choose seven? Why does it take seven rounds of shuffling to obtain a fully mixed deck of cards?

4. SEVEN is influential. You'll learn how the number seven shapes our thinking, our choices, and even our relationships.

5. SEVEN is practical. Throughout this book are Top Seven lists covering the best ways to get someone's attention, to build your personal brand, and to put yourself in the path of prosperity and good luck.

7. SEVEN is wise. You'll hear stories about the meaning of seven from Mehmet Oz, Sally Quinn, Liz Smith, Christina Ricci, and many others.Artfully designed and full of enough insights to keep you engaged in conversation at the water cooler for years, SEVEN will provoke, enlighten, and amuse.

Giveaway Rules. Today I am giving away FIVE copies of this interesting book.

Entry: Comment with your email address in the body of the comment (you can list it as mary123 (at) yahoo(dot)com). If you do not list your email address your entry will not count.

The giveaway is open to Canadian and US residents only.You must be 18 years of age or older.NO P.O. Boxes for the winner’s mailing address.

It’s early morning and I’m sitting here wondering where you are, hoping you’re all right.

A fight, ended by a slap, sends Elizabeth out the door of her Baton Rouge home on the eve of her fifteenth birthday. Her mother, Laura, is left to fret and worry—and remember. Wracked with guilt as she awaits Liz’s return, Laura begins a letter to her daughter, hoping to convey “everything I’ve always meant to tell you but never have.”

In her painfully candid confession, Laura shares memories of her own troubled adolescence in rural Louisiana, growing up in an intensely conservative household. She recounts her relationship with a boy she loved despite her parents’ disapproval, the fateful events that led to her being sent away to a strict Catholic boarding school, the personal tragedy brought upon her by the Vietnam War, and, finally, the meaning of the enigmatic tattoo below her right hip.

Absorbing and affirming, George Bishop’s magnificent debut brilliantly captures a sense of time and place with a distinct and inviting voice. Letter to My Daughter is a heartwrenching novel of mothers, daughters, and the lessons we all learn when we come of age.

Thanks to Random House.

2) Career Comeback by Lisa Johnson Mandell. Publisher's Summary. Unfortunately, getting older can be a career killer. That's what entertainment journalist Lisa Johnson Mandell discovered when she sent out a resume that made her sound like an aged veteran. Her new career makeover guide-expanded from the Wall Street Journal article about revamping her "older" image to land her dream job-acknowledges that experience matters, but looking and acting up-to-date matter just as much. Mandell provides ten strategies for putting a youthful spin on resumes, Web pages, and personal presentation.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

It’s early morning and I’m sitting here wondering where you are, hoping you’re all right.

A fight, ended by a slap, sends Elizabeth out the door of her Baton Rouge home on the eve of her fifteenth birthday. Her mother, Laura, is left to fret and worry—and remember. Wracked with guilt as she awaits Liz’s return, Laura begins a letter to her daughter, hoping to convey “everything I’ve always meant to tell you but never have.”

In her painfully candid confession, Laura shares memories of her own troubled adolescence in rural Louisiana, growing up in an intensely conservative household. She recounts her relationship with a boy she loved despite her parents’ disapproval, the fateful events that led to her being sent away to a strict Catholic boarding school, the personal tragedy brought upon her by the Vietnam War, and, finally, the meaning of the enigmatic tattoo below her right hip.

Absorbing and affirming, George Bishop’s magnificent debut brilliantly captures a sense of time and place with a distinct and inviting voice. Letter to My Daughter is a heartwrenching novel of mothers, daughters, and the lessons we all learn when we come of age.

Review. After a terrible family fight, Laura, the protagonist in a Letter to My Daughter by George Bishop, pens a letter to her runaway daughter Liz. While Laura awaits fifteen year old Liz’s return she decides to write her a letter. In short, to tell her daughter the things she always wanted to tell her, but never did.

Laura’s conversational letter, which spans the length of the novella, is her attempt to share her own tumultuous teenage years during the Vietnam era. As Laura confesses:

" If I could speak now to my fifteen-year–old self, I might tell her to be more forgiving of her parents. Maybe they were doing the best they could. It’s possible. If adulthood has taught me anything, it’s that even grown-ups are fallible. We’re not a whole lot smarter than we were at fifteen. We still feel the same stir of emotions, the same awkward human needs and doubts we felt when we were teenagers. Only the shell grows thicker; the inside, the more tender parts, remain surprisingly unchanged. Often – and this is a secret that not many parents will tell their children – often we don’t know what the hell we’re doing. And so we yell, we shout, we slap our children.

We still make mistakes, daughter. Oh yes, all the time."

This slender (126 pages), yet riveting novella, can easily be devoured in one sitting. The letter itself is believable as a mother writing to her young daughter. Letter to My Daughter is a compelling and candid coming of age saga of young life and love during the early seventies.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Publisher's Summary. Audrey Niffenegger's spectacularly compelling second novel opens with a letter that alters the fate of every character. Julia and Valentina Poole are semi-normal American twenty-year-olds with seemingly little interest in college or finding jobs. Their attachment to one another is intense. One morning the mailman delivers a thick envelope to their house in the suburbs of Chicago. From a London solicitor, the enclosed letter informs Valentina and Julia that their English aunt Elspeth Noblin, whom they never knew, has died of cancer and left them her London apartment. There are two conditions to this inheritance: that they live in it for a year before they sell it and that their parents not enter it. Julia and Valentina are twins. So were the estranged Elspeth and Edie, their mother.

The girls move to Elspeth's flat, which borders the vast and ornate Highgate Cemetery, where Christina Rossetti, George Eliot, Radclyffe Hall, Stella Gibbons and Karl Marx are buried. Julia and Valentina come to know the living residents of their building. There is Martin, a brilliant and charming crossword-puzzle setter suffering from crippling obsessive compulsive disorder; Marijke, Martin's devoted but trapped wife; and Robert, Elspeth's elusive lover, a scholar of the cemetery. As the girls become embroiled in the fraying lives of their aunt's neighbors, they also discover that much is still alive in Highgate, including -- perhaps -- their aunt.

Author of one of the most beloved first novels in recent years, Niffenegger returns with an unnerving, unforgettable and enchanting ghost story, a novel about love and identity, secrets and sisterhood and the tenacity of life -- even after death.

Review. “Elspeth died while Robert was standing in front of a vending machine watching tea shoot into a small plastic cup.” And so begins Audrey Niffenegger’s Her Fearful Symmetry. This exquisitely written first sentence of the first chapter titled, “The End,” both shocks and attracts the reader. I cannot recall a more memorable opening line from a recent novel. And it was highly effective as it immediately drew me into the plot. And what a tale Niffenegger has crafted! The story itself is replete with unpredictable plot twists and turns. Again I cannot recall a more memorable novel!

As one who has not yet read Niffenegger’s blockbuster The Time Traveler’s Wife I was able to enjoy the novel without the raised expectations (and/or assumptions) that some readers experienced. As such I can honestly say that I loved Her Fearful Symmetry even as I also confess that I did not love the main characters (apart from the OCD neighbor Martin) or the ending. Normally, these factors would probably negate my enjoyment of the novel, but such is not the case because Niffenegger’s tale is that engaging!

This modern-gothic, character-driven novel is set in London and, more specifically, Highgate Cemetery. The famous cemetery is central to the plot and becomes an additional character in the story. In fact the novel did such a thorough job of incorporating its essence into the story that I now hope to visit it someday!

Friday, January 8, 2010

Publisher's Summary. Finding true love is possible in just 90 days. Renowned clinical psychologist, Dr. Diana Kirschner, uses the latest research, clinical and personal experience to show you how. Dr. Diana knows the questions single women everywhere face: "Why am I attracted to the wrong kind of guys?" "Why is he just not that into me?" "Why can't I seem to find the One?" She also knows the unconscious mistakes that women make over and over again in love-regardless of age, work success, or the type of men they are dating.

Over the years Dr. Diana has received countless inquiries from single women about writing a how-to guide on her work. Love in 90 Days: The Essential Guide to Finding Your Own True Love is that book.

Love in 90 Days is fun, savvy and based on the latest research on singles, online dating and healthy relationships. Loaded with step-by-step instructions, checklists, and weekly homework assignments, this revolutionary love book is also an intensely personal journey for each reader. Love in 90 Days guides you along your own path towards self discovery with proven and effective dating advice and tough love. Dr. Diana dispels common misconceptions about love relationships and dating, and share personal stories from women who have successfully completed the Love in 90 Days Program. There's also a chapter devoted to the special issues faced by African-American women, single mothers, and women forty-five and older.

Giveaway Rules: Today I am giving away FIVE copies of this fabulous book.

First Entry: Comment with your email address in the body of the comment (you can list it as mary123 (at) yahoo(dot)com). If you do not list your email address your entry will not count.

Extra Entry: Sign up to follow my blog (or let me know that you are a current follower). NOTE: This extra entry MUST be left in a separate comment or it will not count.

The giveaway is open to Canadian and US residents only.You must be 18 years of age or older.NO P.O. Boxes for the winner’s mailing address.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Publisher's Summary. Marisa Rourke is a beautiful, fearless telepath who tames dragonshapers on Earth. Rion is a tall, dark, and sexy space explorer whose home planet is a galaxy away. The attraction between them is undeniable, but Rion is hiding a desperate secret that will change Marisa's life forever.

Marisa's gift is the only way Rion can communicate with his people, enslaved by a powerful enemy. He knows that kidnapping her is wrong, but saving his planet is worth sparking the fiery clairvoyant's fury. Yet hotter-and more explosive-is the psychic bond growing between Marisa and Rion. Could their passion be the key to freeing Rion's people? Only if he and Marisa can discover how to channel their desire . . . before a vicious enemy destroys them all.

Review. by Renee A.J.Rion by Susan Kearney immerses the reader in a future Earth where the population is learning to cope with the side effects of vaccine from the planet Pendragon, which saved humanity for extinction. The vaccine cured humanity’s fertility problem while instilling a genetic shift that requires humans to periodically morph into dragons. Our heroine, Marisa, has abandoned her job as a reporter and become a ‘dragon whisperer’ since she is able to use her telepathic powers to calm the highly sexed and aggressive tendencies of humans when they take to their dragon forms. While Earth begins to cope with its’ new beginning, political leaders shut the portal that allows travel between Earth and other planets. Rion, the son of royalty from the planet Honor, came to the United Nations seeking support for the Honorians’ fight against the Unari Tribes’ who have invaded and enslaved the planet of Honor. With the closure of Earth’s portal, Rion is trapped on Earth unable to communicate with his planet and unable to convince Earth politicians that that the Unari will attack Earth once they have completely subdued Honor. Since the Honorian people are also dragonshapers, Rion kidnaps Marisa in the hopes that she will agree use her telepathic talents to help him rally and organize his people to fight against the superior forces of the Unari Tribes. Thus, begins the anger and attraction between Rion and Marisa, which will grow to passion and compassion as they are forced to protect each other in their travels.

Betrayed by the kidnapping and by Rion’s continuing secretiveness, Marisa fights her attraction for the handsome dragonshaper. Yet she is impressed by the depth of his commitment to his people and stirred by the just war. In addition, to being a dragonshaper Rion has the gift of visions. He is constantly haunted by scenes of the chaos and suffering of the Honorians under the yoke of the Unari. Ultimately Rion and Marisa are able to lead the fight for the Honorian’s freedom, while fulfilling their romantic destiny.

Overall, I enjoyed reading Rion. Although there were a few too many twists and turns in the plot, the characters were well-drawn, the growth of the romance between Rion and Marisa was intriguing, and the rebel fighters were inspiring. Rion is the perfect antidote to a cold January night!

Publisher's Summary. Therese Borchard may be one of the frankest, funniest people on the planet. That, combined with her keen writing abilities has made her Beliefnet blog, Beyond Blue, one of the most trafficked blogs on the site.

BEYOND BLUE, the book, is part memoir/part self-help. It describes Borchard's experience of living with manic depression as well as providing cutting-edge research and information on dealing with mood disorders. By exposing her vulnerability, she endears herself immediately to the reader and then reduces even the most depressed to laughter as she provides a companion on the journey to recovery and the knowledge that the reader is not alone.

Comprised of four sections and twenty-one chapters, BEYOND BLUE covers a wide range of topics from codependency to addiction, poor body image to postpartum depression, from alternative medicine to psychopharmacology, managing anxiety to applying lessons from therapy. Because of her laser wit and Erma Bombeck sense of humor, every chapter is entertaining as well as serious.

Giveaway Rules: Today I am giving away FIVE copies of this fabulous book.

First Entry: Comment with your email address in the body of the comment (you can list it as mary123 (at) yahoo(dot)com). If you do not list your email address your entry will not count.

Extra Entry: Sign up to follow my blog (or let me know that you are a current follower). NOTE: This extra entry MUST be left in a separate comment or it will not count.

The giveaway is open to Canadian and US residents only.You must be 18 years of age or older.NO P.O. Boxes for the winner’s mailing address.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Publisher's Summary. Make It Fast, Cook It Slow is the first cookbook from Stephanie O’Dea, the extremely popular slow cooking blogger: affordable, delicious, nutritious, and gluten-free recipes to delight the entire family.

In December 2007, Stephanie O’Dea made a New Year’s resolution: she’d use her slow cooker every single day for an entire year, and write about it on her very popular blog. The result: more than three million visitors, and more than 300 fabulous, easy-to-make, family-pleasing recipes, including:

--and much more. Make It Fast, Cook It Slow is the perfect cookbook for easy, quick prep, inexpensive ingredients, and meals that taste like you spent hours at the stove.

Review. Today's review fits into my January theme of cooking at home to save money. When blogger-author Stephanie O’Dea made a resolution to use her crock pot everyday in 2008, readers everywhere shared in her tasty journey. Now O’Dea’s fabulous recipes are available in this affordable paperback edition.

Make It Fast Cook It Slow is not your mother’s cookbook. That is, the recipes are much more than the usual pot roast, stew, and soup options. The Table of Contents reveals the bevy of slow cooker options: Beverages, Appetizers, Breakfast, Baking, Side Dishes, Beans, Pasta & Casseroles, Soups & Stews, Seafood, Poultry, Meatless Mains, Meat, Takeout Fake-Out, Snacks & Fondue, Desserts, and Fun Stuff (including crayons and play dough!). I can personally vouch for the Wassail, Crab Dip, and Bacon and Cheese Chicken!

Nearly every page of Make It Fast Cook It Slow contains a different tantalizing recipe. The gluten- free recipes are easy to prepare, use readily available ingredients, and most conclude with O’Dea’s “verdict” (parting thoughts on the results). The only minor detractions from the book are the absence of pictures and nutritional information.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Publisher's Summary. From Denise Austin comes the perfect health book for anyone who wants to live better but just can't seem to find the time. Much more than just another excercise book, Denise's Daily Dozen covers a whole range of health and diet related concepts yet manages it all in a no-stress, time-conscious program of 12's. At it's core, this book contains the minimum daily requirements to keep the reader flexible, strong and trim. Organized simply into seven chapters, which equal the seven days of the week, it covers a full week in daily allotments. Each day will have it's own focus from Monday being "fat burning day" to Sunday's "recharge and rejuvenate."

Denise has created a total body program, including a 7-day balanced meal plan that includes healthy recipes, and a workout that encompasses 12 exercises done in 12 minutes each day. Everyone can take just 12 minutes, at whatever time of the day works for them, and turn it over to these simple and fun exercises. Cardio, toning, yoga and breathing exercises...they're all here but in a way the maximizes effect while minimizing time.

Beyond a dozen exercises for each day of the week this book will include many other of Denises dozens for each day.

Giveaway Rules: Today I am giving away FIVE copies of this fabulous book.

First Entry: Comment with your email address in the body of the comment (you can list it as mary123 (at) yahoo(dot)com). If you do not list your email address your entry will not count.

Extra Entry: Sign up to follow my blog (or let me know that you are a current follower). NOTE: This extra entry MUST be left in a separate comment or it will not count.

The giveaway is open to Canadian and US residents only.You must be 18 years of age or older.NO P.O. Boxes for the winner’s mailing address.

Thanks to host Marcia at The Printed Page I'm participating in the Mailbox Monday round up. This week I received the following advance review copies:

1) One Amazing Thing by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. Amazon Product Description. Late afternoon sun sneaks through the windows of a passport and visa office in an unnamed American city. Most customers and even most office workers have come and gone, but nine people remain. A punky teenager with an unexpected gift. An upper-class Caucasian couple whose relationship is disintegrating. A young Muslim-American man struggling with the fallout of 9/11. A graduate student haunted by a question about love. An African-American ex-soldier searching for redemption. A Chinese grandmother with a secret past. And two visa office workers on the verge of an adulterous affair.

When an earthquake rips through the afternoon lull, trapping these nine characters together, their focus first jolts to their collective struggle to survive. There's little food. The office begins to flood. Then, at a moment when the psychological and emotional stress seems nearly too much for them to bear, the young graduate student suggests that each tell a personal tale, "one amazing thing" from their lives, which they have never told anyone before. And as their surprising stories of romance, marriage, family, political upheaval, and self-discovery unfold against the urgency of their life-or-death circumstances, the novel proves the transcendent power of stories and the meaningfulness of human expression itself. From Chitra Divakaruni, author of such finely wrought, bestselling novels as Sister of My Heart, The Palace of Illusions, and The Mistress of Spices, comes her most compelling and transporting story to date. One Amazing Thing is a passionate creation about survival--and about the reasons to survive.

Thanks to Hyperion via Shelf Awareness.

2) Beyond Blue by Therese J. Borchard. Amazon Product Description. Therese Borchard may be one of the frankest, funniest people on the planet. That, combined with her keen writing abilities has made her Beliefnet blog, Beyond Blue, one of the most trafficked blogs on the site.

BEYOND BLUE, the book, is part memoir/part self-help. It describes Borchard's experience of living with manic depression as well as providing cutting-edge research and information on dealing with mood disorders. By exposing her vulnerability, she endears herself immediately to the reader and then reduces even the most depressed to laughter as she provides a companion on the journey to recovery and the knowledge that the reader is not alone.

Comprised of four sections and twenty-one chapters, BEYOND BLUE covers a wide range of topics from codependency to addiction, poor body image to postpartum depression, from alternative medicine to psychopharmacology, managing anxiety to applying lessons from therapy. Because of her laser wit and Erma Bombeck sense of humor, every chapter is entertaining as well as serious.

3) Prime-Time Health by William Sears, MD. Amazon Product Description. Twelve years ago, renowned physician and author Dr. William Sears was diagnosed with cancer. He, like so many people, wanted-and needed-to take control of his health. Dr. Sears created a comprehensive, science based, head-to-toe program for living a long, fit life-and it worked. Now at the peak of health, Dr. Sears shares his program in PRIME-TIME HEALTH. This engaging and deeply informative book will motivate readers to make crucial behavior and lifestyle changes. Dr. Sears explores how to keep each body system healthy and delay those usual age-related changes. Written in Dr. Sears's wise, accessible, and entertaining voice, PRIME-TIME HEALTH is a practical program to help you live your best life possible-pain-free, disease-free, stress-free, and medication-free.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Publisher's Summary. Twelve years ago, renowned physician and author Dr. William Sears was diagnosed with cancer. He, like so many people, wanted-and needed-to take control of his health. Dr. Sears created a comprehensive, science based, head-to-toe program for living a long, fit life-and it worked. Now at the peak of health, Dr. Sears shares his program in PRIME-TIME HEALTH. This engaging and deeply informative book will motivate readers to make crucial behavior and lifestyle changes. Dr. Sears explores how to keep each body system healthy and delay those usual age-related changes.

Giveaway Rules: Today I am giving away FIVE copies of this fabulous book.

First Entry: Comment with your email address in the body of the comment (you can list it as mary123 (at) yahoo(dot)com). If you do not list your email address your entry will not count.

Extra Entry: Sign up to follow my blog (or let me know that you are a current follower). NOTE: This extra entry MUST be left in a separate comment or it will not count.

The giveaway is open to Canadian and US residents only.You must be 18 years of age or older.NO P.O. Boxes for the winner’s mailing address.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Publisher's Summary. When Peter Walsh, organizational guru of TLC's hit show Clean Sweep and a regular contributor to The Oprah Winfrey Show, appeared on national television shows and told people how they could reclaim their lives from the suffocating burden of their clutter, the response was overwhelming. People flooded Peter's website (www.peterwalshdesign.com) with success stories about how his book had changed their lives.

Peter's unique approach helped people everywhere learn to let go of the emotional and psychological clutter that was literally and figuratively choking the life out of their homes.

With his good humor and reassuring advice, Peter shows you how to face the really big question: What is the vision for the life you want to live? He then offers simple techniques and a step-by-step plan to assess the state of your home, prioritize your possessions, and let go of the clutter you have been holding on to that has kept you from living the life you imagine. The result is freed-up space, less stress, and more energy for living a happier, richer life every day.

Review.It’s All Too Much by Peter Walsh is not the typical how-to-organize your clutter book (e.g. the ones that send you scurrying to Wal-Mart to stock up on plastic storage boxes). Rather it is a call to purge the clutter. Walsh’s philosophy is to focus on “the costs of clutter.” These costs include the emotional (clutter causes a stressful environment and discontent in relationships) and the financial (wasteful spending on “stuff” rather than meaningful experiences or purchases).

One by one Walsh debunks the top excuses for keeping clutter:• I Might Need It One Day: Answer: Clutter keeps us from living in the present.• It’s Too Important To Let Go: Answer: Clutter makes us forget what’s really important – families, friends, relationships – NOT things.• I Can’t Get Rid Of It – It’s Worth A Lot Of Money: Answer: Clutter robs us of real value.• My House Is Too Small:Answer: Clutter steals our space.• I Don’t Have The Time:Answer: Clutter monopolizes our time.• I Don’t Know How It Got Like This:Answer: Clutter takes over.• It’s Not a Problem – Someone Else Just Thinks It IsAnswer: Clutter jeopardizes our relationships.• It Isn’t MineAnswer: Other people’s clutter robs us of opportunities that should be ours.• It’s Too Overwhelming:Answer: Clutter erodes our spiritual selves.

Who knew that clutter caused all of these issues?

After reading the excuse-busters I was convinced, but where and how to start? This is where the nitty-gritty work begins. First, Walsh advocates a Kick Start day which basically encompasses a massive surface purge and a lot of trash bags. While this might make for good TV in real life I prefer to go a bit slower. And Walsh does concede that you can accomplish the same purging in smaller increments with “a little bit everyday.”

Once you have surface purged either via the Kick Start or little by little, Walsh then tackles decluttering the average house room-by-room. Every chapter starts with an admonishment to set up a “Room Function Chart” as a floor plan to reconstructing the room. While it is helpful to consider each room’s purpose, the formality of making a chart that all household members sign off on is for most people an unnecessary extra step. In the room specific chapters I most enjoyed the practical tips, such as, hanging all clothing in one direction, but in another after wearing (to determine what clothes you actually wear).

As a booklover I also appreciated Walsh’s discourse on book ownership. Specifically, Walsh asks: “What was it that you were purchasing when you bought this reading material?” According to Walsh, some people purchase books simply to read. These people can usually part with a book after they have digested it. Others, however, buy books “to acquire the knowledge contained in the book.” To these people parting with the book is tantamount to surrendering this knowledge. However, as Walsh aptly notes “when you buy a book you do not suddenly own the wisdom it contains – all you have bought is words on paper.” I’m going to keep Walsh’s wisdom in mind when I prune my book collection.

In short, It’s All Too Much is perfectly divided between the emotional reckoning with the costs of clutter followed by the practical-step-by-step advice. For these reasons, I highly recommend It’s All Too Much!

Friday, January 1, 2010

Hope you celebrated appropriately last night and are ready for a new decade! Did you make any New Year’s resolutions? If so, please feel free to share them in the comments field. While I no longer make resolutions, as I tend to have failed miserably at them by the time Valentine’s Day rolls around, I do love to hear the resolutions of others.

Although I do not make resolutions, I do like to make lists of areas/goals that I could improve on. Generally speaking, these areas concern one of three topics: money, weight, and organization. I’ll bet you share at least one of these concerns.

In an effort to inspire and motivate you (and me) to save money, lose weight, and banish the clutter, throughout the month of January I will be periodically spotlighting books on one of these topics. So please join me in the “Money, Weight, and Trash” theme month.

Welcome to Metroreader!

I'm a reader/commuter in the DC Metro Area. My daily commute to work provides me with ample time to do what I love most: read! Whether its chick lit, literature, memoirs or other non fiction you can always find me with a book.
Review requests may be sent to dcmetroreader(at)gmail(dot)com.

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